Goodbye
by 9r7g5h
Summary: Why did she have to say goodbye?


**AN** : This is a super old one that I'm just finishing up. I hope you enjoy!

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Adventure Time.

* * *

They 'd broken the crown.

 _It was an accident_ , Jake had claimed when he had showed up at her door, eyes wide and panicked as he tried to explain why she needed to leave her cave in the middle of the day. They had just been goofing around, throwing rocks at the Ice King so he could freeze them before they hit. _Something we always do, yah know,_ he had whimpered in addition, feeling the withering glare the vampire had cast in his direction.

He and Finn weren't stupid. They both knew how much Simon meant to her, and how much she hated when they messed with him. But still they did, and it was finally coming back to bite them in the ass.

 _Well, he missed one of the rocks, and…_

She didn't need to hear the rest of what the dog said. It only took her a moment to grab her hat and umbrella, and she was out door, flying toward the ice kingdom.

* * *

Everyone had gotten there long before her.

At any other time, she would have been shocked to see so many people crowding the Ice King's castle, princesses willingly gathered there to see the Ice King fall; now she was just furious. Part of her wanted to drain them-how _dare_ they stand there and cry over a man they had always claimed to hate, someone who had been nothing more than a nuance to them and their perfect little worlds. People who had feared the poor old man, offering hostility instead of help to someone who obviously could have used it.

Part of her wanted to offer them up to Death instead, hoping their worthless lives would be enough to extend his a tad bit longer.

It was the other part, thankfully the larger one, the one that whispered reminders that it was the Ice King who had kidnapped almost every woman within his room at least once, thus leading to his alienation, that threw them out instead; growing far beyond her normal shape shifting boundaries, until her joints popped and tendons threatened to snap, she swiped her claws at them, tearing through dresses and just barely grazing skin until they were alone.

"Simon," she said quickly as she shifted back, ignoring the dull ache in her bones. "Simon, I'm here." Occupying one of the chairs that had previously been filled, Marceline gently took his hand and rubbed it between her own, surprised, after all these years of freezing digits, with just how warm it was.

A sure sign, she was sure, of just how close the end truly was.

"Oh, Marceline...you've grown up to be beautiful." His voice was soft as he spoke, his eyes just barely opening to look at her. They were clear though, clear and full of recognition and staring straight at her, without that ever so slightly dimness that told there was more going on within his mind. He was there, fully present, and as he squeezed her hand as tightly as he could (not tightly at all, so weak and small seeming his hands were in her own), Marceline finally couldn't help it. Couldn't help the tears that wet her cheeks as she sat next to him, watched as the crown's power finally began to leech from his body after centuries of leeching off of him, leaving Simon, not the Ice King, in its place.

So she began to sing, because what else could she do? What else could she do when Simon, the man who had raised her almost more than her own father, was finally leaving her for good? Because at least before there had been hope- hope for a cure, hope he could snap out of it, hope they could find some way to break the hold the crown had on him.

She just hadn't thought they would break the crown itself, nor that losing it would mean losing him forever.

"Daddy…" Marceline choked out through a sob, holding onto the blue-tinged hand a bit tighter when she saw the shocked expression pass over Simon's face. "Daddy…why do you have to die? I guess that…it is your time, but can you tell me why?"

She wasn't sure where the lyrics had come from, or why they were following the same tune she had written for her other father about her french fries, but seeing the small smile that crept onto his face, Marceline couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Daddy…why do you have to go? I already know…but do you really have to go?"

She didn't try to stop the tears. This was the one man she had ever let see her cry, and she wasn't about to change that now.

"Daddy, I always knew you loved me, though you forgot to show it, in your heart you know it."

For why else would he have let the crown take over, except to protect her?

"Daddy…" she croaked, biting back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm her before she could finish the last few lines, "please don't make me say goodbye…not for a second time. Don't make me say goodbye."

"Oh, my sweet Marceline," Simon breathed as he reached out with his free hand, cupping her cheek and swiping away the tears that streaked it with his thumb. "My sweet, sweet Marceline. I'm not going anywhere. No goodbyes, I promise. Not today."

"You promise," Marceline asked, the faintest hint of hope appearing her in words. Simon had only ever broken one promise to her, only one, so if he made another…

"Come here, my sweet little Marcy," Simon replied softly, gently tugging her down so she was half lying in the bed, her head resting against his shoulder and his hand softly stroking her hair, just like he used to do when she was little. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Simon began to sing as well- because what else could he, an old dying man, do to comfort her but leave her something to remember for eternity.

"Making your way in the world today, my Marceline, takes everything you got. But you're doing swell on your own, kid, even when you're not. So please, don't cry, dry out your eyes, and smile once for me…"

Gently pressing on her chin so she would raise her head, Marceline couldn't help the small, watery smile that crossed her quivering lips. She wouldn't have, even if she could of.

She had to smile, for him.

"I'm so proud of you…my Marceline."

* * *

It was hours before the others dared to enter the room. But, when they did, all they found was an open window and Hambo resting on Simon's still chest.


End file.
